Egos, abortion or mutts -- what caused the Ayu-Nagase split?
Superstar couple Ayumi Hamasaki and Tomoya Nagase have split and Shukan Shincho (7/26) suggests the reason could have been because their relationship was not the only thing between them that was aborted.
Pop diva Hamasaki publicized the end of the relationship with an announcement July 13 on her web site that she had "broken off with my lover."
But Hamasaki gave no reason for why the pair suddenly decided to go their separate ways and the rumor mill is rife, especially as she and the Tokio singer had widely been regarded as close to tying the knot following a relationship that had gone for ages.
"They'd been dating for seven years, and all the reporters on the showbiz beat were convinced they'd marry for sure," Masaaki Hiruma, a veteran entertainment industry commentator, tells Shukan Shincho.
But it wasn't to be, and the pair of 28-year-olds are now headed along different paths. Some say egos played a part in the break-up.
"I think the split was because of the characters of the two big stars involved. Hamasaki's career is definitely on the wane, but Nagase is on the rise, both as a performer with Tokio and as an actor. Hamasaki likes playing up the fact she's a star, but now perhaps Nagase is beginning to look at her on equal terms and that destroyed the link between them," Hiruma suggests.
Others say there was a darker side to the break up.
"There's a rumor that the split was caused because Hamasaki had an abortion," an entertainment beat reporter tells Shukan Shincho.
Another showbiz beat hack adds fuel to the fire.
"Ayu is a formal member of a top Tokyo hospital, which guarantees her absolute privacy, but apparently somebody happened to spot her bawling her eyes out while at the hospital in the spring," the reporter says. "I have to admit that I don't know whether the rumor is true."
The hospital, which the magazine doesn't name, refuses to comment. A source with links to Hamasaki's talent agency is more talkative.
"I think it's a bit of a vicious rumor. The problem is that she announced the split, but didn't elaborate on why it had happened. That's made everybody even more curious about why such a happy couple broke up," the source says. "I guess the abortion rumor popped up because it's a good enough reason to explain why a seven year relationship suddenly came to a screeching halt."
Hamasaki's talent agency vehemently denies any talk of a terminated pregnancy.
"There's not an ounce of truth in that," an agency spokesman tells Shukan Shincho.
If not an abortion, then what did cause Hamasaki and Nagase to go their separate ways? Was it ego, as Hiruma suggests? Or something else? The source close to Hamasaki's talent agency says it was dogs.
"Hamasaki has got four or five pet Chihuahuas and she takes them along with her wherever she goes, even into TV studios. She's got her own entourage, with a stylist and a make-up artist and all that, and even one person whose job it is to look after the dogs," the source tells Shukan Shincho, adding that the pooches caused a rift with Nagase when Hamasaki went on overseas tours. "She'd issue him with really nagging orders about looking after her Chihuahuas, like making sure he fed, walked and brushed them every day. When she'd come back home, the dogs were never looked after in the way she wanted and she'd blast Nagase for it. Nagase probably felt he was doing his best to look after the dogs, but still copped a mouthful for it. I guess her 'princess' attitude just became too much for him in the end and he just ran out of love." (By Ryann Connell)
July 20, 2007
credits: Mainichi Daily News & Ginger_ale of Jdo